Jeremiah 43

And then, when Jeremiah had finished speaking to all the people all the words of Yahweh their God, for which Yahweh their God had sent him to them with all these words, Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the insolent men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, "You are telling a lie! Yahweh our God did not send you, saying, ‘You must not go to Egypt to dwell as aliens there.’ But Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us in order to give us into the hand of the Chaldeans, to kill us and to deport us to Babylon."

So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies, and all the people did not listen to the voice of Yahweh to stay in the land of Judah. But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies took all the remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations to which they had been scattered to dwell as aliens in the land of Judah— the men, and the women, and the little children, and the daughters of the king, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan the captain of theguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah— and they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh. And they came up to Tahpanhes.

And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, "Take in your hands large stones and bury them in the mortar in the clay floor that is at the entrance of the palace of Pharaoh in Tahpanhes before the eyes of the people of the Judeans, and say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "Look, I am going to send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he will spread out his canopy over them. And he will come and ravage the land of Egypt, and deliver those who are appointed for the plague, to the plague, and those who are appointed for the captivity, to the captivity, and those who are appointed for the sword, to the sword. Then he will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them captive. And he will wrap up the land of Egypt just as the shepherd wraps up his cloak. And he will go forth from there in peace. And he will break the stone pillars of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt. And he will burn the temples of the gods of Egypt with fire."’"

Jeremiah 44

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who were living in the land of Egypt, who were living at Migdol, and Tahpanhes, and Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, saying, "Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen all the disaster that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the towns of Judah. And look, they are a site of ruins this day, and there is not in them an inhabitant, because of their wickedness that they committed to provoke me to anger by going to make smoke offerings, serving other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, or your ancestors. And I sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending over and over again, saying, "Please, you must not do this detestable thing that I hate." But they did not listen and they did not incline their ears to turn back from their wickedness, to not make smoke offerings to other gods. So my wrath and my anger were poured out and burned in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became as a site of ruins, as a desolation, as they are this day.’

So then, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Why are you doing great harm to yourselves, to cut off for yourselves man and woman, child and suckling, from the midst of Judah, to not leave over for yourselves a remnant, provoking me to anger with the works of your hands, to make smoke offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to dwell as aliens, so as to cut off yourselves, and so that you are becoming as a curse, and as a disgrace among all the nations of the earth? Have you forgotten the wicked things of your ancestors, and the wicked things of the kings of Judah, and the wicked things of their wives, and your wicked things, and the wicked things of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? They have not shown contrition up to this day, and they have not shown reverence, and they have not walked in my law and in my statutes that I set before you and before your ancestors.’

Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Look, I am determined to bring disaster on you, even to exterminate all Judah.And I will take away the remnant of Judah who are determined to come to the land of Egypt to dwell as aliens there, and everyone will perish. They will fall in the land of Egypt by the sword; they will perish by the famine, from the smallest to the greatest. By the sword and by the famine they will die and become as a curse, as a horror, and as a curse, and as a disgrace. So I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt just as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague. And there will not be a survivor or an escapee of the remnant of Judah, those who have come to dwell as an alien there in the land of Egypt, to return to the land of Judah where they arelonging to return to dwell there, for they will not turn back, but onlysome survivors.’"

Then all the men who knew that their wives were making smoke offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, and all the people who lived in the land of Egypt in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, "Concerning the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we are not going to listen to you! But certainly we will do everything that went out from our mouths, to make smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out to her libations just as we did, we, and our ancestors, our kings, and our officials, in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, for then we had enough to eat, and we were well-off, and we did not see disaster. But since we stopped making smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to her, we have lacked everything, and by the sword and by the famine we have perished. And indeed, when we were making smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out to her libations, was it notwith the consent of our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes marked with her image, and we poured out to her libations?"

Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women, and to all the people who answered him a word, saying, "The offering that you made, smoke offerings in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you, and your ancestors, your kings, and your officials, and the people of the land, did not Yahweh remember them, and did it not come to his mind? And Yahweh was no longer able to bear it, because of the evil of your deeds, because of the detestable things that you committed. Thus your land became as a site of ruins, and as a horror, and as a curse, without inhabitants, as it is this day. Because ofthe fact that you made smoke offerings, and that you sinned against Yahweh, and you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you have not walked in his law, and in his statute, and in his legal provisions, therefore this disaster has happened to you, as it is this day."

Then Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women, "Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, ‘You and your wives have promised with your mouths and with your hands you have fulfilled, saying, "We certainly will carry out our vows that we vowed, to make smoke offerings to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out to her libations." You must certainly keep your vows and you must certainly carry out your vows.’ Therefore hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah, those who live in the land of Egypt: ‘Look, I hereby swear by my great name,’ says Yahweh, ‘surely my name will no longer be called in the mouth of any man of Judah, saying, "as the Lord Yahweh lives," in all the land of Egypt. Look, I am going to watch over them for harm and not for good, and all people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will perish by the sword and by the famine until their perishing. And the survivors of the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah few in number. And all the remnant of Judah who have come to the land of Egypt to dwell as aliens there will know whose word will endure, from me or from them. And this will be to you the sign,’ declares Yahweh, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that surely my words will endure against you for evil.’ Thus says Yahweh: ‘Look, I am going to give Pharaoh Hophra, the king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave Zedekiah the king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, his enemy and the one who sought his life.’"

Jeremiah 46

The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. Concerning Egypt: Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah.

"Prepare small shield and shield,and approach for the battle!Harness the horses and mount the steeds!And take your stand with helmets!Polish the spears!Put on the body armor!Why do I see them terrified?They are turning backand their warriors are beaten down.And they have fled to a place of refugeand they do not turn back.Terror is from all around," declares Yahweh.The swift cannot flee,and the warrior cannot escape.They have stumbled and they have fallen,by the bank of the Euphrates River.Who is this that rises like the Nile,like the rivers whose waters surge?Egypt rises like the Nile,even like the rivers whose waters surge.And he says, "Let me rise,let me cover the earth,let me destroy cities,and the inhabitants in them."Go up, O horses,and drive madly, O chariots,and let the warriors go forth;Cush and Put, who wield the small shield,and Lud, who wield and bend the bow.For that day is to the Lord Yahweh of hostsa day of retribution,to take revenge on his foes.And the sword will devour and be satisfied,and it will drink its fill of their blood,for a sacrifice is for the Lord Yahweh of hostsin the land of the north by the Euphrates River.Go up to Gilead and take balm,O virgin of the daughter of Egypt.In vain you make use of many medicines;there is no healing for you.The nations have heard your shame,and your cry of lament fills the earth.For warrior has stumbled against warrior,together they have fallen, the two of them.

The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon to attack the land of Egypt:

"Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol,and proclaim in Memphis and in Tahpanhes,say, ‘Take your stand and be prepared,for the sword will devour those all around you.’Why are your bulls defeated?He did not stand because Yahweh thrust him down.He multiplied the ones stumbling.Furthermore, each one fell to his neighbor,and said, ‘Stand up, and let us return to our peopleand to the land of our birth,because of the presence of the sword of the oppressor.’They will call there,‘Pharaoh, the king of Egypt is but a roar,he missed the opportunity.’As I live," declares the king,Yahweh of hosts is his name,"one will come like Tabor among the mountainsand like Carmel by the sea.Pack your baggage for exile,O inhabitants of the daughter of Egypt,for Memphis will become as a horror,and it will be destroyed, without inhabitant.Egypt is a beautiful heifer,but a gadfly from the north will come against her.Even her mercenaries in her midst are like calves of fattening,for they also have turned away,they have fled together.They stand not,for the day of their calamity has come,the time of their punishment.Her sound is like a snake that glides away,for they march in force.And with axes they come to herlike those who chop trees.They will cut down her forest," declares Yahweh,"for it is impenetrable.Yes, they are more numerous than locusts,and they are without number.The daughter of Egypt will be ashamed,she will be given into the hand of the people of the north."

Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, said, "Look, I am going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, and her gods, and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who trust in him. And I will give them into the hand of the seekers of their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and into the hand of his troops. But afterward it will be inhabited, as in days of old," declares Yahweh.

"But as for you, my servant Jacob, you must not be afraid,and Israel, you must not be dismayed,for look, I am going to save you from far,and your offspring from the land of their captivity.And Jacob will return,and he will be quiet,and he will be at ease,and without one who makes him afraid.You must not be afraid, my servant Jacob," declares Yahweh,"for I am with you.For I will make a complete destruction in all the nations where I scattered you,but you I will not make a complete destruction,though I will chastise you to the measure,and I will certainly not leave you unpunished."

2 Peter 1

Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith equal in value to ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, because his divine power has bestowed on us all thingsthat are necessary for life and godliness, through the knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence of character, through which things he has bestowed on us his precious and very great promises, so that through these you may become sharers of the divine nature after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire, and for this same reason, and by applying all diligence, supply with your faith excellence of character, and with excellence of character, knowledge, and with knowledge, self-control, and with self-control, patient endurance, and with patient endurance, godliness, and with godliness, brotherly love, and with brotherly love, love.

For if these things are yours and are increasing, this does not make you useless or unproductive in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the one for whom these thingsare not present is blind, being nearsighted, having forgotten the cleansing of his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be zealous even more to make your calling and election secure, because if you do these things, you will never ever stumble. For in this way entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly supplied for you.

Therefore I intend to remind you continually concerning these things, although you know them and are established in the truth that you have. But I consider it right, for as long as I am in this habitation, to stir you up by a reminder, because I know that the removal of my habitation is imminent, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will also make every effort that you are able at any time, after my departure, to recall these things to mind.

For we did not make known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ by following ingeniously concocted myths, but by being eyewitnesses of that one’s majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when a voice such as this was brought to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And we ourselves heard this voice brought from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain, and we possess as more reliable the prophetic word, to which you do well if you pay attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, recognizing this above all, that every prophecy of scripture does not come about from one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.